Mindfulness Body Scan

20:02

20:02

Mindfulness Body Scan

by Martin Yelverton

Rated

4.7

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

941

This is a guided body scan meditation, moving awareness from one part of the body to the next. It's a classic mindfulness exercise in which we use the body as a laboratory in which to practice presence, paying close attention to sensations that might normally pass us by, noticing when thoughts carry our attention away, and returning; slowly breaking the patterns of operating on autopilot. It's deeply relaxing for most, and some might even find it can aid sleep... although, ultimately, it's a practice of falling awake.

Mindfulness Body Scan Meditation Body Awareness Movement Relaxation Sleep Supine Position Leg Awareness Breaking Autopilot Gentle Movement Breathing Breathing Awareness Mind Wandering Lying Down Meditation

Meet your Teacher

Martin Yelverton

London, UK

Meet your Teacher

Martin Yelverton

London, UK

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this Mindfulness Body Scan meditation in which we move our awareness through the whole body, Noting sensations from one part to the next. I'm going to be guiding it to practice lying on your back, But it is possible to do it sitting upright if you prefer, And if you take that option, Adapting instructions as necessary here and there to suit that position. Beginning by finding a firm but comfortable surface on which to lie, A mat on the floor perhaps, A carpet, You could do it on a bed if you want to. Lying on your back, Allowing your legs to extend out in front of you, Flat on the ground. Alternative position might be to have your feet on the floor with the knees bent up towards the ceiling in a semi-supine position. If you feel it would be helpful to have a bit of support beneath your head and your neck, You can use a pillow or a cushion. Allowing your arms to lie comfortably on either side of your body, Letting the eyes gently close if you're comfortable with that, But if you prefer to keep your eyes open, Taking a soft gentle gaze. But as you settle into a comfortable position now, Allowing any movements that your body is processing and releasing before settling into stillness. Beginning by feeling the various points of contact between your body and the surface beneath you. So simply noting what you feel where your head contacts the ground beneath you, Noting the curve of the back of your neck, The contact between your shoulders, Your back, Pelvis on the ground beneath you, The contact between your arms, Hands on the ground, Contact between your legs, Your feet on the ground. Nothing other than noting how it feels, These various points of contact, Allowing your body to settle, Maybe imagining becoming a little heavier with each exhale. Now finding the sensations of breathing in your body, Bringing awareness to the abdomen, The front of the abdomen, Belly and the chest, The back of the abdomen, The whole back, The sides of the trunk of the body. Simply feeling what you feel with each inhale, With each exhale. Perhaps finding a sense of gentle expansion and contraction with the inhales and the exhales. Undoubtedly thoughts are going to keep coming throughout the practice and might carry your attention away if you notice this happening. Simply bringing your awareness back to whatever we're doing at that moment, In this case right now, Feeling the sensations of the breath in the trunk of the body. Doesn't matter how many times your mind wanders off, You just bring it back as and when you notice that happen. Now letting the sensations of breathing fall away into the background of your awareness and taking your attention down to the toes of the left foot. Noticing all of the toes on the left foot. Is it possible to feel the individual toes? The big toe, The little toe, The toes in between? Can you feel space between the toes or the contact the toes are making with each other? Moving your awareness to the sole of the left foot, Noting what you feel there. The top surface of the left foot, The left ankle, Any sensations you can notice. Moving your awareness to the left shin, The left calf, The left knee, The back of the left knee, Top of the left thigh, Back of the left thigh, Being aware of the whole left leg, Including the toes and foot, Any sensations you feel, Simply feel them. Leaving the left leg now and moving awareness back to the breath in the body for a few moments, Just feeling the gentle expansion and contraction of your torso as you breathe, Before guiding your awareness down to the toes of the right foot. Can you notice, Can you sense each individual toe? The big toe, The little toe, Toes in between? Can you notice any spaces between your toes? Toes pressing against each other and shifting awareness to the sole of the right foot now, Top surface of the right foot, The right ankle, The right shin, The right calf, The right knee, The back of the right knee, The front of the right thigh, Thigh, The back of the right thigh, The whole right leg, Just noting, Experiencing whatever sensations you feel in the whole of the right leg, And once more moving awareness back to the abdomen, Sensations in the abdomen of breath. I'm going to move our awareness now into our arms and we'll do the arms, Both arms at the same time. Guiding your awareness down to the tips of the fingers and the thumbs of both hands, The very tips of the fingers and the thumbs of both hands. Awareness of the rest of the fingers, The thumbs, So the whole of each finger and the thumbs. You're noticing what sensations you feel in the fingers and thumbs, The palms of both hands, The backs of the hands, The wrists, The forearms, The elbows, The pits of the elbows, The elbows, The upper arms, The shoulders, The armpits, And coming back to the sensations of breathing in the body. Bringing awareness now to sensations in the low belly, Front of the pelvis, Back of the pelvis, Buttocks, The low back, And the rest of your back, Shoulder blades, Backs of the shoulders, On the ground beneath you, Noticing what you feel, Experiencing the sensations. Bringing your awareness over to the collarbones, To the chest, The sternum, The breastbone in the middle of your chest, The front ribcage, And back into the belly again, Feeling the sensations of breathing in the torso. Bringing awareness now to the back of your neck, Noticing its curvature, The back of the head, The crown of the head, The forehead, The temples on either side of the forehead, The eyebrows, The space between the eyebrows, The eye sockets, Is it possible to soften a little more around the eye sockets as you bring your awareness there, The eyeballs, The eyeballs, Exploring the possibility of allowing more softness around the eyes, Both nostrils, The whole of the nose, Both cheekbones, Cheeks, And the lower jaw on both sides, Both ears, Pausing a moment at the ears to be aware of any sounds, Coming back now to the face, And bringing awareness to both lips, Top lip, The lower lip, Sensations, Can you feel there? Both rows of teeth in your mouth, The top row, The bottom row of teeth, The tongue, The roof of the mouth, The palate, Moving awareness to the chin, The throat, Both sides of the neck, Being aware of the whole head, Noticing the sensations of the whole of your head, Being aware of its weight on the ground beneath you, And then allowing that awareness of the head to expand into feeling the whole body, Being aware of the whole body, Is it possible simply to feel the body as a field of sensation, As always, Watching for those moments when you may have become engaged with thoughts, And simply coming back to the body time and again with this practice, Experiencing sensations we might not notice for much of the time, Very often don't notice at all what's going on with the body as we use it day in and day out, It can sometimes seem as if we're flying on autopilot for much of the time, And practices like this can help us break that pattern and come back to being fully aware, Fully present. And as we draw towards the close of this practice, Once more, Bringing awareness to the breath, Feeling the sensations of the breath, Gentle expansion, And contraction with each inhale and exhale. Now releasing that close focus on your breathing and allowing your awareness to open out wider, Beginning to take in sounds from around you, Allowing some movements into your body, Some gentle wriggling, Stretching, Whatever feels good, Letting the light back in, So gently opening the eyes, Lying still for a little while longer if you want to, But whenever you're ready, Getting up in a relaxed way and heading off to do whatever comes next. Thank you very much for practicing with me. Take care.